Sharing my good days and bad days

Posts tagged ‘Weight loss’

I was chatting with a coworker yesterday and the subject of walking came up…

I have seen my coworker outside walking, but I had no idea how important it is to them. They walk every day… EVERY day!

This person shared with me how several years ago they had been overweight, and by taking care to eat healthier and walking every day for at least 20 minutes helped them to reach their goal in less than a year!

And this wasn’t a little goal… it was around 100 pounds!

Oh, no! I would hate to lose 100 pounds!

Wait a minute!

No, he didn’t lose pounds, as in currency… he lost pounds as in weight!

My goal is 75 pounds…

I have no idea how long it might take, but I’m going to walk… every day… and write down what I eat… and eat healthy food… and weigh every day…

Yep, you guessed it! Not only did I not lose weight, but I gained weight!

Now I realize that one-fifth of a pound (my weight gain) might not sound like a lot to some of you, but look at the other side of the coin… I didn’t lose any weight!

And I don’t want to even think of what the scale will read tomorrow morning… my daughter surprised me with vegetable fried rice for dinner! And although the salad I ate was low-calories and nourishing, and the rice and vegetables are healthy enough, the soy sauce causes me to retain water, so I fear the scale will inch on up…

I’ll let you know tomorrow. (of course you might hear my scream when I step on the scale, so you’ll already be prepared)…

Anyway, hurrah! The week is half over… and Saturday is almost in sight.

A little before noon we received a message that all state offices were closing for the remainder of the day!

So I finished the work I was doing and headed home.

Now for yesterday’s progress:

Although (at my request) my wonderful daughter made some homemade raspberry bars (150 calories per bar – ouch), I only ate two three of them!

And I didn’t get back outside to walk so I didn’t get any much exercise. But I was particularly careful of my dinner time calories… I had a big salad and a few bites of provolone cheese, summer sausage and roasted vegetable ritz crackers. Yum!

No diet soda, no sweet tea, no frapp! Yesterday I drank water… and lots of it!

Of course, I know the first ones are the easiest to lose. I’m just happy when I step on the scales and the number decreases! Eventually if it takes longer, that will be okay, since it will mean I have much less to lose than I do now.

I’m thinking about how my family can make lunchtime our bigger meal and dinnertime a smaller meal. After dinner, there’s not as much activity, so it makes more sense to eat less, although it might be difficult to do. Eating at work means I don’t have the time, or setup, to eat like I can at home.

Day 2 went pretty well… we drove to “The Cove” to walk (the kids took their scooters). After walking the trail twice, we were heading back to the truck when it began to sprinkle. We got back just in time!

We stopped on the way home to pick up a tire tube for my grandson’s bike, but when we got home we discovered we had bought the wrong size. So it’ll need to be exchanged for a bigger one.

At home we made some chili… after it was done, we enjoyed a bowl, adding shredded cheese and a few corn chips. Did you know 16 corn chips has 160 calories!!!

No, we did not go to the requested fast food choice shown below, but we did compromise… but I digress.

It began well. I started the day with controlling my portions… so instead of 2 scrambled eggs with 2 slices of diced ham and 1/4 cup of shredded cheese (my usual Saturday omelet), I opted for one egg with a tiny bit of cheese. It was pretty good. I added 1/2 an english muffin with a dab of cream cheese.

Then I got the brilliant idea to drive to the mall to walk, since it wasn’t time to open so it wouldn’t be crowded, yet would be warmer than the cold air outside.

We get in the car and head for the mall. Once we began walking, my daughter noticed that her black skirt was clinging to her leggings… in a bad way!

She couldn’t go more than a few feet before the front… and back… would cling so tightly she could barely walk, as well as riding up and showing her “red” leggings, not to mention how embarrassing it was to her… and whenever she would pull her dress away from the leggings, the static electricity would “shock” her. The rest of the family laughed, but I don’t think any of us would have enjoyed getting shocked.

Instead of giving up and going back home, since it was past ten and the stores were opening, we checked out Belk but didn’t find anything. So we headed to J C Penney, where we found wonderful capri pants, perfect for walking.

My daughter wasn’t happy about trading her skirt for pants, but I assured her they looked very modest and would be more than acceptable for walking and exercising. We purchased them and they worked great!

Aside from her feeling very self-conscious (the girls in our family have chosen not to wear pants or shorts, but wear long skirts and modest tops) about not being appropriately dressed, we had a good workout.

And the compromise? Well, after walking, with a bit of shopping afterwards, we were all starving, so instead of fast food, we headed to one of our favorite places for a salad – it’s an excellent salad, tasty, healthy, and fresh.

In addition to two salads, we ordered a chopped steak with mushrooms and a baked potato to share, plus food for the kiddies.

Last night, after eating a bowl of popcorn, I felt defeat knocking at my door. But I knew it wouldn’t be easy… but I can’t give up!

Day 1 taught me two very important things:

1. Exercising takes a lot of energy!. I discovered I need to eat a larger portion when I exercise. I didn’t do this and I think this is why my head began hurting. I also need to be careful to not allow my blood sugar to drop too much and this happens more when I’m trying to diet.

2. Sitting around (especially watching a video) makes me hungry! Some evenings we allow the children to watch a character-based video or we watch a sermon by one of our favorite preachers. I discovered sitting on the couch prompted me to get the munchies… so the next time I plan to grab my knitting. If I still get the munchies I’ll have to figure out something else to do.

I weighed… and will use my iPhone app – My Fitness Plan – to track the foods I eat during the day. I have updated it to watch my carb intake (diabetes), cholesterol (HDL too high), and salt/sodium (high blood pressure).

I’m ready!

OK, I’m off and running… to the mall… to WALk.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. ~ Philippians 4:8

Have you wanted to do something… something that you really need to do… and it’s important… and it would make a huge difference in your life… physically, emotionally, even spiritually?

but you can’t seem to get started…

or you begin, but can’t seem to remember to keep at it

so it fails…

again…

miserably…

Of course, I’m talking about losing weight.

I actually lost the weight ten years ago. It was very hard, but I did it. Although I didn’t come close to what the charts say I should weigh, everyone voiced concerns that I was losing too much weight. Even my doctor, who thought I was starving myself, asked that I write down what I was eating for the next two weeks and send the results back to her.

So without even noticing, I began eating more… and more… and more.

I gained back all the weight, plus another twenty pounds. Did anyone voice concerns that I was obese and hurting myself? No. Apparently people only interfere when you’re losing weight, not when you’ve gained enough that you can’t walk down a hallway without brushing against one, or both, of the walls.

ENOUGH!

Tomorrow begins a new day for me…

I have no idea why God is telling me to begin tomorrow, but I feel in my soul that tomorrow is the day, so I’m planning to write a post every day… hopefully… about my journey.

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